by Sharon Sant
Luca glanced across to the doorway and spotted her. He quickly ducked around the old man and made his way over with an exasperated look that was almost comical.
‘Holy Mary,’ he sighed, giving her a quick peck on the cheek, ‘it’s mental in here!’
‘Are these people all in your family?’ Ellen asked, looking around.
Luca grinned. ‘Not all… but mostly.’
‘No wonder they left Italy,’ Ellen quipped, ‘there can’t have been enough room to fit you all in.’
Luca’s grin broadened. Ellen handed him a yellow envelope.
‘Happy birthday.’
Luca took the envelope and opened it.
‘I didn’t know what to get you,’ Ellen explained, ‘but I figured you would need money on your gap year.’
He counted and stared up at her. ‘I can’t take this much…’ he started to give the notes back but she pressed his hand over them.
‘Take it, please. I’d like you to and I won’t hear any argument.’
He hesitated, then smiled and folded them into his pocket. ‘Thank you, Ellen.’
Her smile faded as she glanced around the hot, noisy kitchen.
Luca took her hand gently. ‘Come on, let’s find a quiet corner.’ He led her out from the room and into the front parlour, but it was almost as full.
‘There’s my bedroom,’ he said apologetically.
‘Stay in the party, if you like. I’m really ok.’
‘We’ll come back to it in a minute. I have stuff to tell you, if that’s alright.’
She nodded and they made their way upstairs.
Luca closed the door behind them and the sounds of the gathering were immediately muffled.
‘I wanted to tell you before Mum got squiffy and spilled the beans… I’ve booked my flights for the New Year.’
‘That’s great, Luca, really…’ Ellen’s smile was a little too bright.
‘I had wanted to wait, y’know, until Jake was right, but…’
‘I know. Nobody expects you to wait around forever. And Jacob wouldn’t want you to.’ She rallied. ‘So, how’s your Spanish?’
He sighed theatrically. ‘Only slightly worse than my very bad Italian.’
She couldn’t help a small laugh. ‘If you can’t speak Italian, who else will be able to?’
‘Well,’ he squirmed, ‘It goes when you don’t use it much, and I mostly speak English, even at home.’
She nudged him. ‘I’m sure your Italian is fine.’
‘Which is more than I can say for my Spanish,’ he replied.
‘I can’t believe you’re actually going to do this,’ she said, gazing at him with an awed expression. He had come so far from the boy she had dated three years ago.
‘Neither can I,’ he admitted. ‘It was really my biology teacher who suggested it, and volunteering does look great on your medical school application. Besides, it’ll be cool to travel a bit.’ Somehow, his disastrous and stressful trip to California with Jacob had never felt like proper travelling. Apart from filling Ellen in on the most important details, he had barely mentioned it since their return. ‘How is he?’ Luca said. Ellen didn’t need to ask who he meant.
‘The same.’ She sighed heavily and moved across to sit on Luca’s bed. ‘There’s just nothing. Absolutely nothing.’ Ellen had tried to reach Jacob, many times during the past two months, through the special psychic connection they shared. But there was emptiness, a silent void where his mind used to be.
‘What’s his consultant say?’ Luca asked, sitting down next to her.
She shot him a sideways glance. ‘We both know that there’s nothing medical wrong with him. The consultant won’t be able to find anything because there’s nothing to find.’
Luca paused. ‘What about his people?’ he asked finally. ‘They saved him before, that time with Makash…’ Luca seemed to shudder. Ellen noticed and wondered if he was recalling the day they had brought Jacob back from the brink of death after his uncle had tried to kill him. Ellen had been a vessel for the energies of the people of Astrae that time, and she wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.
‘I’ve tried. But I don’t know if I’m reaching them or not. What little ability I have, I don’t know if it’s enough…’
‘I don’t understand,’ Luca began, ‘last time they knew, they were able to save him. What’s changed?’
It wasn’t the first time they had ruminated on these points. Why did the Astraens, Jacob’s people, not intervene to save him now, as they had done before? He was their Watcher, a god to them; they had fought long and hard to keep him from coming back to Earth in the first place. Ellen had tentatively tried to bond her mind to their collective consciousness, but the silence there was as deep as Jacob’s own. Was it somehow linked to his current state – did their very survival depend on his?
‘I don’t know. It can only have something to do with Makash,’ Ellen concluded, not for the first time.
‘Or Alex,’ Luca reminded her. ‘She’s the only person with more power than Jacob; he said that loads of times. I think he was scared of her… and she’d have plenty of reasons to hate him right now.’
‘I wonder what is going on up there,’ Ellen mused, looking towards the window as if she could see into that other galaxy.
‘Whatever it is, it’s too far away for us to do anything about it and too far away to really affect us.’ Luca replied, suddenly becoming pragmatic.
‘What about Jake?’ Ellen turned her questioning gaze back to him. ‘It’s affecting him.’
‘No, what he did is affecting him,’ Luca corrected. ‘He knew what would happen.’
‘It’s my fault,’ Ellen said. The constant reminder of what she had goaded Jacob to do was a knife to her heart, one she insisted on twisting every day. Ellen had lost count of the times she had relived those last hours with Jacob, had wished she had done things differently, had cried herself to sleep over them. ‘I shouldn’t have said those things to him.’
‘Then, his dad would have died and Jake wouldn’t have ever forgiven himself,’ Luca said.
Ellen hung her head, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.
‘Hey, hey…’ Luca tipped her face up to his. ‘There’s no need for that.’
Luca’s eyes met hers. Before she could stop herself, she was kissing him. For a moment he responded, his hand finding the nape of her neck and drawing her in, but then he broke off and pushed her gently away, his expression pained.
She flushed. ‘I’m so sorry…’ Starting up from the bed, she crossed to the door and reached for the handle. ‘I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me.’
Luca bounded to the door and placed his hand over hers. ‘Don’t go like this.’
She bit her lip. She knew why she had kissed him. Her heart was aching for someone she couldn’t have.
‘I’m sorry, Luca.’
‘You’re just missing him,’ he replied.
‘You’re right.’ She laughed shakily. ‘You must think I’m such an idiot.’
He stroked a thumb gently beneath her eye to catch a tear. ‘Never,’ he whispered, folding his arms around her. She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. His warm embrace spread through her, replacing her anxieties with a new contentment. ‘I don’t have to go away,’ he said.
‘Yes, you do.’ She pulled away to look at him, her expression brighter now. ‘Besides, a lot can happen between now and Christmas.’
Two: Second Thoughts
The wind swept across the rock face, cleaving a path through the rough grasses that grew over the scar. Alex stood at the high glass windows hugging herself, even though inside the tower it was warm. The illusion was good; she had to admit that, very… Wuthering Heights, she mused. Even so, it still didn’t feel right; it didn’t feel like home… No! She shook the thought from her head. That was not home. That was the place she had been dumped and forgotten so that her brother could be raised to glory in her place. That was what Makash had
told her; she had even seen it from Ioh himself.
‘Kya.’
She spun round to find Makash directly behind her.
‘I wish you wouldn’t do that, Uncle,’ she said, catching her breath. ‘Can’t you just walk around when you’re here, like normal people?’
‘Normal people? In which reality would you like that to fit?’ he asked with sarcasm.
‘I just don’t think it’s necessary to skulk around like some B movie villain,’ she shot back. ‘There’s only you and me here and you’ve already impressed me. Keeping it up just makes you look desperate.’
He gave a short nod. ‘I thought you might like to hear about the progress of our Watcher.’
‘You mean Jacob?’ she sighed.
‘Ioh,’ he corrected.
‘Sure, whatever.’
‘There is none.’
‘Why would that make me happy? It means I’m still stuck here.’
‘It means that the pathetic people of our planet will soon be without their Watcher.’ Alex looked away. ‘This should please you, Kya,’ Makash pressed, noting her uneasiness.
‘It does,’ she faltered, ‘It’s just… it doesn’t seem fair to kill him.’
‘You forget,’ Makash replied, ‘we have not killed him. He is taking care of that himself.’
She brooded on his words. What Makash hadn’t told her, but what she had guessed, was the reason that Jacob lay close to death. Two months trapped in this tower had given her a lot of time to think over all that she knew of her twin. And it didn’t fit with what Makash was constantly telling her about the kind of Watcher he was. ‘We’re still helping him on his way, though,’ she replied, doubt clouding her features.
‘We’re merely blocking the connection.’ He moved closer, staring into her troubled eyes, his own darkening. ‘You agreed to that, remember?’ he said in a low voice.
She nodded. ‘I remember.’
‘Then remember this also: your father, Dae, sent you to Earth with no protection and left you there to fend for yourself so that his son, your brother, with no more rights to the title of Watcher than you, would ascend to glory on his death while you were left forgotten on a far away planet. Think of the life you have had. Ioh has been pampered and loved and then revered as a god while you struggled, day after day on the streets.’
‘I know all this but… Jacob was left on Earth too,’ she frowned.
Makash nodded. ‘Indeed. With a protective amulet and the promise of being retrieved.’
‘He’s family…’ she continued, her argument losing force as she spoke. ‘He came for me.’
‘As did I. Think about what he left you with, and who is now picking up the pieces of his mistake.’
‘What Dae did to us, that’s not Jacob’s fault.’
‘Neither was it yours. And yet you paid the price.’
Her gaze returned to the windows. ‘No, it wasn’t my fault either,’ she said quietly, staring out across the crags. ‘When will I get my turn?’
‘You know that the new Watcher cannot ascend until the old one is dead. We must wait.’
‘You’ve told me that. But what if another Successor is born before then? Where will that leave me?’
‘Exactly where you are now,’ Makash replied smoothly. ‘If that situation should arise, I will deal with it.’ Alex tried not to shudder. ‘In the meantime,’ Makash continued, ‘you must train. I will teach you all that I can so when the time comes, you’ll be ready.’
‘When will that be?’ she asked, turning to face him.
‘That depends on you. Your powers are great - greater than mine and certainly greater than Ioh’s - but you are still inexperienced. You must work harder to block the energy that radiates from the Astraen people to their Watcher; some residue must be still reaching him. Only when the connection is severed will he fade completely.’
‘Do we have to stay here while I do it? I’m sick of this place.’
‘We do. You want for nothing here; it is a hidden place of safety. Where better?’
She turned back to the window and exhaled. ‘Can we at least change the scenery now?’
‘As you wish,’ Makash replied. Outside, it began to snow over an Alpine village. ‘Better?’ he asked, arching a sardonic brow.
‘Whatever…’
She turned around to speak again but he had gone.
Every day that passed she trusted her uncle less. She had never been able to breach his mind in the way she had done with Jacob the first time they had met, and she had been afraid of the consequences if she pushed too hard. It was like Makash had something to hide where Jacob had completely bared himself to her, a gesture of absolute trust which demanded trust in return. Despite her bitterness towards him, right now, Jacob’s motives seemed the most pure. Makash, despite his assurances and promises, scared her more every day. But right now he was the only family she had. She closed her eyes, reached into the dark place of her mind, and sent the pulse out across the universe.
Three: Regrets
Maggie put her hand on Phil’s shoulder. ‘I’ve made some supper, why don’t you come down for a while?’
Outside, darkness held the streets, the sky a clouded ochre. Phil had not left Jacob’s room since his conversation with Ellen earlier that afternoon.
‘I’m not really hungry,’ he replied, not moving his gaze from Jacob’s motionless form.
‘Phil, you can’t sit up here for ever.’
‘I’ll be down in a while.’
‘Phil…’ she began carefully, ‘perhaps it’s time to think about going back to work…’
‘Has this come from Dan?’
‘Of course not. Dan has said all along that he can manage the business, it’s just… this vigil, it’s not normal…’
‘Normal?’ he looked up at her. ‘What is normal? I don’t even know what that word means anymore.’
‘I feel the same way as you, but it’s not helping him, this moping.’
‘It’s not the same for you. It’s not your fault… I should be the one dying, not him…’
‘He wanted you to live. Everything he gave, it would all be for nothing if you continue like this.’
‘I should have stopped him.’
‘How could you? How could you know what he would do?’ Maggie took a seat next to him.
He shook his head slightly, his expression unreadable in the lamplight. ‘I’d give it up, my life… I’d give it in a heartbeat if I thought it would get him back.’
She put a hand over his. ‘I know you would. But it isn’t your decision to make.’
‘It shouldn’t have been his either. How could such a young boy be given that sort of responsibility?’
Maggie’s gaze turned to Jacob. ‘What Ellen told us… we always sort of knew, didn’t we?’
Phil nodded. ‘It seemed so obvious when she did. I can’t pretend to understand his power or where it came from… but I can’t deny that I always knew he was different.’ He forced a short, humourless laugh. ‘Just how different, though, that’s the bit that’s hard to swallow.’
They lapsed into silence, their attention drawn to Jacob as they watched the steady rise and fall of his chest, the glint of gold in his hair from the lamp, the subtle glow of his flawless skin. He looked so peaceful, more than he had done for a long time.
Maggie roused herself. ‘Supper will be cold,’ she said, nudging Phil’s hand. ‘Come down and eat something.’
He stretched. ‘I’ll be there in a minute.’
She rose from her chair and planted a kiss on his head before throwing one last glance at Jacob and leaving the room. Phil lingered for a moment longer before standing up. Going to the lamp, he reached to turn it off, but then hesitated before finally leaving the room lit.
‘I’ll walk you home,’ Luca offered as the last hardcore stragglers of the party had retreated to the sitting room to carry on drinking and look at old family photos.
‘There’s no need,’ Ellen smiled. ‘Besides, what
would your mum say, this party is in your honour; you can’t just run off.’
‘Watch me,’ Luca grinned.
Ellen laughed and pulled on her jacket. ‘Go on, then. You’ve persuaded me.’
Ellen had spent most of the evening making polite small talk with Luca’s mother and sisters and it had been a draining experience. All she had really wanted to do was run home and hide in her room, but she stayed for Luca’s sake, despite the new tension that now hung in the air between them. As they stepped onto the street, the skies began to drizzle.
‘Eeew, frizz hair time,’ she exclaimed, turning her collar up against the rain.
‘Don’t be such a girl,’ Luca laughed, fastening his own jacket.
‘Don’t tell me you’re not bothered about your hair either.’ She cocked an eyebrow at her friend as they began to walk.
‘Well,’ he said with an impish grin, ‘I am so much prettier than you; I have every reason to worry about my hair.’ She threw a fake punch at his arm. ‘Ow!’ he cried. ‘I’m only saying what everyone is thinking.’
